FOOTNOTE:
[A] Served from June, 1862, to October, 1864, as Assistant Ordnance Officer, 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and from that time to April, 1865, as Ordnance Officer Fitzhugh Lee’s Cavalry Division.
Endorsements.
[From Commodore Pegram.]
Petersburg, Va., October 29, 1869.
I take pleasure in bearing testimony to the authenticity of the accompanying record, as furnished by Captain F. W. Dawson, whilst he was under my command on board of the C. S. Steamer Nashville; and I do most earnestly recommend him to the favorable consideration of the Committee on Applications, as one eminently entitled, by his efficient services, to enjoy all the advantages and honors of a Survivor.
Captain Dawson offered his services to the Confederate cause on board the C. S. Steamer Nashville, at Southampton, England, December, 1861, in any capacity I might designate. He was under age at the time, being about 17 or 18 years old; for this reason I declined to take him away from his home and friends to set him adrift in a foreign land then engaged in a bloody war.
A few days before sailing from Southampton, duty called me to London, and Dawson, taking advantage of my absence, assumed the garb of a sailor boy, and was enlisted by the First Lieutenant on board the Nashville. I did not know that he was on board until we were at sea, and was so surprised at seeing him that I called him to enquire how he had thus gotten the weather-gage of me? He replied, he was determined to espouse the Confederate cause at all hazards, even by smuggling himself on board, if indispensable to attain his object.
During the voyage of the Nashville homeward, the admirable conduct of young Dawson attracted my attention, and that of all the officers; and such favorable reports were made to me of his zeal in the discharge of every duty required of him, that I determined to give him an acting appointment of Master’s Mate in the C. S. Navy, which appointment was promptly confirmed by the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, upon my recommendation, when the Nashville arrived at Beaufort, N. C.
Mr. Dawson was attached to a vessel of the James River Squadron at the time that General McClellan made his advance upon Richmond, yet such was his anxiety to engage in the battle, that he offered his services as a volunteer to the officer in command of the Purcell Battery. He was taken from the field of battle at Mechanicsville badly wounded, but remained fighting his gun until the close of the action, when, from loss of blood, he was completely prostrated. Mr. Dawson’s bravery on this occasion, elicited the admiration of his Captain, who went with me to the Hon. G. W. Randolph, then Secretary of War, to request that he might be appointed a Lieutenant in the C. S. Army. The request was readily granted as a reward of merit.
Though suffering from a painful wound, Mr. Dawson did not remain idle. An invitation had been issued by the Secretary of War to the junior officers of the army, to propose for admission into the Ordnance Corps. An examination was ordered; and when the Board of Examiners met, Mr. Dawson was examined and passed with distinction, and was commissioned in the Corps of Ordnance. His career of duty in that branch of the service is better known to the officers of the army with whom he served than to myself: though I have watched his course with great satisfaction, and always felt a profound interest in his advancement and welfare, having long since forgiven him for his tact in weathering an old sailor.
R. B. PEGRAM,
Lt. Com’g, C. S. N.
[From Lieutenant-General Longstreet.]
I take pleasure in certifying to the services of Captain Dawson in the 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
JAMES LONGSTREET,
Lt.-Gen., C. S. A.
[From Lieutenant-General Anderson.]
Charleston, S. C., April 16, 1869.
It affords me pleasure to recommend this application to the favorable consideration of the Committee on Applications, and to say that the services rendered by the applicant eminently entitle him to share the privileges and distinctions of a Survivor.
My acquaintance with Captain Dawson began in the early part of the war; but during a period of about six months, following the battle of the Wilderness, (whilst in command of Longstreet’s Corps,) I had constant opportunities to observe the meritorious conduct and gallant bearing of this officer.
The record given within, between the dates or during the period above mentioned, is correct.
R. H. ANDERSON,
Lt.-Gen’l, C. S. A.
[From Major-General Fitz Lee.]
Richland, Stafford Co., Va., November 10, 1869.
Captain F. W. Dawson was my Ordnance Officer at the time he specifies. He was a brave soldier and an efficient officer.
“Survivors!” let him in.
FITZHUGH LEE,
Maj.-Gen., C. S. A.
These pages I have written at the request of my wife, Sarah Morgan Dawson, and for her dear sake. It is little enough, in the hurry of a busy life, to do for one who, year after year and so long as I have known her, has strengthened my faith by believing in me, and enlarges my hope always by her confidence and love.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained: for example, breast-work, breastworks; gunboat, gun-boats; pic-nic; grewsome; trowsers; tragical; Hayti; rascality.
[Pg 98:] ‘in the caisons’ replaced by ‘in the caissons’.
[Pg 123:] ‘on a reconnoissance’ replaced by ‘on a reconnaissance’.
[Pg 123:] ‘be the heighth’ replaced by ‘be the height’.
[Pg 147:] Chapter heading ‘XXIII’ replaced by ‘XXXIII’.
[Pg 172:] ‘in the autum’ replaced by ‘in the autumn’.
[Pg 178:] ‘Spottsylvania C. H.’ replaced by ‘Spotsylvania C. H.’.